


pulling strings

by alileely



Series: the ordinary and boring tales of mark and haechan [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Cute, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Guitars, M/M, Summer, haechan wants to play the guitar, mark just wants to sleep, somebody's getting kissed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:14:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27992088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alileely/pseuds/alileely
Summary: Summer afternoons were the worst. The air was hot and suffocating, and whatever wind that blew from the trees or from the electric fan perched haphazardly on top of a stool was still humid enough to not provide any relief. It was on days like this that Mark wanted to be left alone to suffer this hellish heat, preferably with a pitcher of ice cold water by his bed.But on this particular day, Hyuck was there and he brought ice cream.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Series: the ordinary and boring tales of mark and haechan [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2050149
Comments: 6
Kudos: 90





	pulling strings

Summer afternoons were the worst. The air was hot and suffocating, and whatever wind that blew from the trees or from the electric fan perched haphazardly on top of a stool was still humid enough to not provide any relief.

These were the kinds of days where even moving your leg slightly to a more comfortable position felt like a chore, and you would sweat even without doing anything and it just felt sticky and your clothes clung to your body and it was _irritating_. Everything was irritating — lying down was irritating, sitting up was irritating, the noise from the television was irritating, having to wear anything at all was irritating.

It was on days like this that Mark wanted to be left alone to suffer this hellish heat, preferably with a pitcher of ice cold water by his bed.

But on this particular day, Hyuck was there and he brought ice cream.

"Why do you always mix up A minor and E major?"

"They're the same positions."

_"On different frets."_

"Yeah, I know. That's where I get mixed up."

Mark groaned loudly, prompting Donghyuck to strum loudly on the guitar. The sound was jarring and it took everything in him not to strangle this maddening creature beside him.

Of course, Donghyuck hadn't told him he would come over today. He had just decided that he would and took it upon himself to bring snacks and let himself in, but Mark figured that last one was his fault since he had given him a key to his apartment. Donghyuck mostly used it for cute stuff, such as sneaking in to cook him breakfast after an all-nighter or leaving random notes around the place for him to find.

But sometimes, and this was one of those times, he would use the key to invite himself in and wreak pure havoc on Mark's day. The day he barged in, banging pots and pans to wake him up when he had a hangover, was one of those days. That one weekend when he let himself in and hid behind the bathroom curtains and almost gave Mark a heart attack when he was about to take a shower, naked and all.

 _Today_ was one of those days.

"Come on, Mark, you promised you'd help me play guitar!"

Mark sighed as he tiredly rubbed a hand over his face. He really was no match for Donghyuck, even when he was being annoying. He readjusted himself, propping one leg up on the couch as Donghyuck readily turned more to face him. His hands were already in position and Mark really wanted nothing more than to nap away the heat, but he couldn't say no to him.

He ran down the basic chords with him: A major, C major, D major, E major, G major, A minor, D minor, E minor. _So far, so good._

"Okay, give me a C major."

_Okay, he did it. Easy._

"Now, an E minor."

_Took a bit longer, but he got there._

"What about an E major?"

_Oh, you've got to be kidding..._

"Hyuck... That's an A minor."

"Oh, I must have misheard. I thought it was A minor."

He did not mishear. He might have misheard the "E" for an "A", but Mark had clearly enunciated the "major". He knew he did.

This was the 11th time that Donghyuck had mixed up A minor and E major. He had been counting. Donghyuck had messed it up enough times for Mark to suspect that he was doing it on purpose and it was driving Mark insane. He was so close to just grabbing the damn guitar from him and kissing him right there if it meant making him stop.

Or maybe he just wanted to kiss Donghyuck.

"Can we do this sometime else? Maybe in colder weather?"

"But when it's cold, I'll just wanna cuddle with you," Donghyuck argued, the beginnings of a pout forming on his face. Mark felt his heart skip a beat as if Donghyuck had thrown a rock at it and caused it to trip. He swallowed down the giddy feeling rising in his chest.

"Why do you want to learn how to play the guitar anyway?"

"Because you're always the one playing it for me and I want to learn how to play it by myself."

"You've never complained about it before," Mark said, a little confused and a bit sad. He always loved playing the guitar for Donghyuck and he loved hearing him sing even more. He had a voice that made you feel warm, so comforting that it would make anyone sigh in contentment. And he always loved these little jamming sessions they had.

"Well, you're not always going to be around to play the guitar for me, will you?" Mark felt his heart thundering in his chest. "I mean, what if you're busy studying or visiting home?"

Mark let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He was afraid that he was hinting at a breakup although, deep down, he knew Donghyuck would never. He knew he was safe with him and that he wouldn't get hurt. Just the way Donghyuck touched him let him know that he wasn't going anywhere. How many times, after all, had Donghyuck playfully told him, playfully but honestly, between butterfly kisses and tender touches, _"You're stuck with me forever."_

"Well, I think we can stop here anyway," Mark shrugged, pushing himself up off the couch. "You've got everything except those two chords. You'll get them soon."

Mark froze before he could even get up to grab a glass of water as music poured out from the guitar that Donghyuck was holding. Stiffly, he turned his neck to stare in disbelief as Donghyuck, _that cocky little shit_ , strummed the chords to"Man In The Mirror" flawlessly.

"Donghyuck, what the fuck."

Mark already knew by the shit-eating grin on his boyfriend's face that Donghyuck had already picked up all of the chords, probably the first time he taught it too. Hell, he probably even knew the chords before he asked Mark to teach him because he didn't remember teaching him the chords for "Man In The Mirror". But this _infuriating_ , _stupidly annoying_ , _absolutely beautiful idiot_ — _his_ infuriating, stupidly annoying, absolutely beautiful idiot — had pretended for almost two hours that he couldn't differentiate A minor from E major.

Mark should have known. Donghyuck had a habit of teasing him. But other than that, he was damn smart. No way someone who could solve riddles under five minutes would get two chords mixed up so many times.

Sometimes, Donghyuck would try and see how long he could ruffle Mark's feathers, leading him around and around in circles. He just made it so easy — and perhaps a part of Mark was doing it instinctively. Donghyuck liked how his face would gradually turn red in anger, and Mark was addicted to the cocky smile that appeared on his face every single time.

"You're such an idiot," Mark groaned in frustration, running a hand through his hair as he fought an incredulous laugh. "I was _this close_ to hitting you with that guitar. I swear to God, Hyuck, you really decided it was a good idea to do this in this goddamn heat? My patience was literally hanging by a thread, everything was so annoying and—"

"Ooh, you wanna kiss me so bad."

But other times, and certainly _this time_ , Donghyuck would smile softly at him as he started to explode — so softly that he would often wonder if he was smiling at all. But it was there.

Most times, it was just the smile. Other times, he would say the most random shit that would make Mark's heart flutter for no good reason, like _"You're cute"_ or _"I love you"_. Apparently, today it was _"Ooh, you wanna kiss me so bad"_.

And there would be a falter in Mark's words, the slightest stutter as his train of thought was cut off, replaced instead by _Donghyuck_ , _Donghyuck_ , _Donghyuck_.

Mark could feel the heat rushing to his cheeks as he muttered, "... Maybe."

It was in that small fraction of a second in Mark's abrupt faltering that Donghyuck would make his move. He would reach out to brush the fringe of his hair, softly that he barely felt his fingers touch his forehead.

He would pause. He always did. _(Mark always thought it was just Donghyuck being Donghyuck, always with that dramatic flair.)_

And then, he would start to lean in.

Just like that, his frustration and annoyance would disappear at Donghyuck's touch, melting between their lips and lost in the sighs in between.

Donghyuck had to bite his lip to stop himself from whining when Mark unceremoniously pulled away. A smirk appeared on Mark's face and it seemed, like it always did, that he had successfully turned the tables on him. He placed a gentle kiss on Donghyuck's pouting lips and got up towards the kitchen.

"I'm just going to get some water."

"Oh, Mark, there's a song I want to play for you."

Mark paused to look back. Just as the tune of "I'm Yours" started to fill the room, Mark walked up and snatched the guitar from him. Mark could take the subtle flirting, the quiet touches and secret glances, the playful hugs and chaste _(okay, sometimes not-so-chaste)_ kisses. He loved those. But these blatant displays of love and affection just made him cringe.

"Alright, you can stop now."

It was a lot of fun pulling Mark's strings and pushing all his buttons. And Donghyuck was just lucky that he got embarrassed so easily.

**Author's Note:**

> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/alileely) | [twitter](https://twitter.com/alileely)
> 
> Thank you for reading! I really hope you enjoyed this. I really am a beginner at writing fluff (I usually write angst), so please be kind. If you have any pointers, comments, suggestions, or constructive criticisms, I would really appreciate it!!!
> 
> Sending u hugs ♡
> 
> P.S. Also, this one-shot is a little gift for **Alyssa (@haespeach)**. Hope you like it!!!


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